1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of splints which limit bending of patient's joints to promote healing or prevent injury.
2. Background of the Prior Art
There are many circumstances where flexion of one or more of the patient's joints must be prevented or controlled. Often patients have suffered muscle or tissue damage in joints which normally flex or bend, such as elbows, knees, wrists and ankles. Such damage can be the result of twisting, especially on knees and elbows. Tendons may be tom or inflamed with tendinitis which makes bending of the injured joint excruciatingly painful.
The conventional art uses plaster or custom molded plastic splints to secure patients' joints from bending. Plaster of pads may be molded around the joint in a desired position and held until it dries and hardens into a hollow shape. Moldable plastic or combinations of plastic and plaster may be heated in hot water, bent into the desired shape, and held in place with gauze and adhesive tape. These conventional devices are hard and uncomfortable, especially because they do not permit adequate movement of air for drying and often create pressure points which cause decubitus pressure sores in extended use. Additionally, they are not reusable. The plaster must be cut off the patient and the plastic ones are custom molded to fit the particular patient's joint. The conventional devices block air flow and retain sweat around the joint. They are heavy, which adds to the discomfort, as anyone who has had to wear a plaster of pads splint can testify.
There is another category of patients for which no really effective splint is available. This is the category of patients suffering from neurological disorders or bad head injuries which suffer involuntary muscle contraction which causes prolonged flexion, especially of knees and elbows. Severe contracture of the elbow for a prolonged period during sleep can so pressure the ulnar nerve, by pinching at the elbow, that the entire hand and fingers can go numb. Also, some of these patients are disoriented and cannot be discouraged from pulling tubes that are necessary for their survival. Devices such as straight jackets are undesirable and uncomfortable as restraints, and normal splint devices are not easily installed and removed, as for example, between night and day operations.
It would be desirable to have a lightweight airy universal soft splint which can readily be wrapped around the patient's joint and secured to hold the limb in an extended position. Such a device should be quickly and easily removable and reusable by washing or sterilization and manufactured from readily available, inexpensive materials which are soft and comfortable against the skin, permit air movement around the joint and which does not require hardening into a massive structure.